"It was only a few years ago that trillion-dollar budget gaps and the ever-rising national debt were the singular preoccupation of lawmakers in Washington -- particularly Republicans. The federal fiscal imbalance, Senator Mitch McConnell said in 2012, was 'the nation's largest long-term problem.' Former Speaker John Boehner warned the following January that deficits and the debt were 'killing the economy.' Buoyed by increasing revenue from an improving economy and tax increases in 2013, along with spending caps enacted in 2011, the deficit has shrunk by more than half since the early Obama years, to $439 billion in fiscal 2015. And as the gap has declined, so has the urgency on Capitol Hill. The new House speaker, Paul Ryan, made his name proposing budget plans aimed at tackling the nation's long-term debt. But when he laid out his policy vision for the party during a major address last week, he never mentioned either the budget gap or the $18 trillion national debt." (12/15/15)

"As the Labour Party fights with Tories over the need to slightly rein in government spending in the UK, opponents of even the slightest bit of austerity have turned out to claim that there is no virtue in 'living within your means.' In a recent article in The Guardian, Ha-Joon Chang, attacked even the Tory government's timid claim that it wasn't a great idea to spend more than the government collects in tax revenues. But for the new radical left Labour Party on whose behalf Chang's article was written, this notion is as quaint as it is 'simply wrong.'" (12/08/15)

"With negotiations over a massive $1.1 trillion budget package moving at a glacial pace, GOP leaders are now openly predicting that Congress will blow past a Dec. 11 deadline for funding the federal government. ... The current government funding bill expires on Friday, but Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said an agreement is unlikely by then. 'When it comes to the [omnibus], I'm seriously looking at having us in on Friday or over the weekend to get our work done,' McCarthy said during a press conference on Monday. The California Republican said he did not anticipate any problem passing a stopgap spending bill to keep federal agencies open beyond Friday. Top Republicans have vowed they won't allow a government shutdown; the last one, in 2013, was seen as a debacle for the party. Yet bitter policy fights are delaying a deal." (12/07/15)

"Greece's Parliament has approved the 2016 budget that includes deep spending cuts and tax hikes amid economic recession. The budget passed early Sunday, 153-145, with 2 lawmakers absent in the 300-member Parliament. The vote was strictly along partisan lines. The government forecasts zero economic growth this year and a contraction of 0.7 percent in 2016. Earlier, it had predicted declines of 2.3 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively." (12/05/15)

"Puerto Rico may have dodged a bullet when it avoided default last week, but its decision to commandeer revenue that was supposed to meet future debt payments will invite creditor pushback and possibly lawsuits. Creditors have long criticized Puerto Rico's spending habits, and may have the ammunition to bring those complaints to court now that the Caribbean island plans to divert funds to cover constitutionally-guaranteed debt and essential government services." (12/06/15)

"President Barack Obama is set to sign a revised defense authorization bill allowing the Pentagon to receive $33 billion in new military spending in 2016. In truth, for all the Beltway's wailing about defense spending austerity over the last few years, its punch barely landed. Bipartisan deals raised spending caps every year, and 'war' funds allocated to non-war purposes provided further padding. That's too bad. True austerity could have forced Pentagon leaders to pursue overdue economies, making sensible choices among weapons and service agendas. It might even have forced our leaders to produce a real defense strategy." (11/12/15)

"George Osborne has put pressure on the high-spending Government departments to make cuts by announcing four have already agreed to 30% spending reductions. The Chancellor announced the transport, communities and environment departments, as well as the Treasury, have agreed deals ahead of a spending review later this month. Under the agreements, the departments will slash spending by an average of 8% per year over four years -- which amounts to 30% cuts over the course of this parliament." [editor's note: So why is it that the UK's government can plausibly plan to balance its budget by 2020, but anyone who suggests that the US government balance its budget in this century is considered nuts? - TLK] (11/09/15)

"Both Republicans and Democrats have created the problem of government spending, and both have failed to solve it. Since 1980 the U.S. national debt ceiling has been raised 42 times, and both parties were complicit in that." (11/06/15)

"Greece isn't the only beach tourism destination that is struggling with a debt crisis. This summer, Puerto Rico announced that it would be unable to repay some US$72 billion in debt. In recent days, the commonwealth successfully restructured some of this debt at the cost of an additional $60 million in fees paid to various financial advisory firms. With two 2016 Presidential hopefuls, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Senator Marco Rubio, appearing at campaign events in Puerto Rico in the past few weeks, it's worth examining one issue which has contributed to Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis: the US federal minimum wage." (11/02/15)

"We predicted this in our Monday message. We told you that President Obama didn't veto the annual National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) in order to save money, but as a strategy to make the Republicans spend more on domestic programs too. Well ... It worked. Obama has cut a deal with the Republicans that does a number of bad things ... * The debt ceiling limit will be wiped out (yet again), and extended into the next president's term * Spending will rise $80 billion above the sequestration caps * That money will be split evenly between the increased defense spending the Republicans want, and the increased domestic spending the Democrats want ..." (10/28/15)

"Just as I have predicted for the past couple of years, Congress has capitulated again on its debt ceiling. The media is reporting that Congress is striking a deal with President Obama to lift the debt ceiling once again. The deal now permits the federal government to add even more debt to the already existing mountain of federal debt -- that is, until the newest 'ceiling' is reached sometime in early 2017 (soon after a new president has been inaugurated), at which point the charade will start over." (10/27/15)

"House Republican leaders introduced legislation just before midnight on Monday, finalizing a two-year budget agreement between Congressional leaders and the White House. The introduction sets up a vote as early as Wednesday on the bipartisan budget deal which would increase military and domestic spending and avert a potentially catastrophic default in exchange for long-term spending cuts. The 144-page bill, which is the result of weeks of negotiations between the White House and Congressional leaders, would increase spending by $80 billion over two years and would increase the federal borrowing limit through March 15, 2017. " (10/27/15)

"Let's assume, for simplicity's sake, that after everyone has paid his taxes, the government's total tax revenue is $1 million. Let's also assume that total government expenditures total are also $1 million. That means that all the entire $1 million in tax revenues will be spent -- to cover such things as salaries for employees, welfare payments, bomb purchases, and the like. That is what we call a 'balanced budget,' one in which the government's tax revenues equal to the government's expenditures. Notice something important here: Even though the government is spending the same amount that it is bringing in with taxes doesn't necessarily mean that what the government is doing is good, moral, or sound." (10/26/15)

"Congress risks 'manufacturing crisis' by prevaricating over raising the debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an opinion piece Monday in USA Today. Unless the cap is raised beyond the current limit of $18.1 trillion, the Treasury is seen running out of money to pay bills in full and on time by Tuesday next week. It would then be left with only incoming taxes and fees to cover expenses, which will be insufficient. ... Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 times to raise the debt cap or revise the definition of the debt limit -- 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents, according to the Treasury's website." [editor's note: Somewhere I hear the world's smallest violin playing a sad tune for those who say it's "insufficient" that the politicians might only be able to spend what they steal from us, instead of borrowing against their promises to steal MORE from us in the future - TLK] (10/26/15)

"House Republicans [last] week appeared committed to passing measures that President Obama almost certainly won't sign, including a bill that would put the government at risk of defaulting on its bills. The GOP-controlled chamber on Friday adopted a measure -- through a process called 'budget reconciliation' -- that repeals large parts of ObamaCare and defunds Planned Parenthood. The process allows the Senate to pass such legislation without a super-majority, which the Republican-controlled upper chamber has failed to get in recent key votes. The move is largely considered another symbolic effort against the president. But another by House Republicans -- including proposed cuts to Medicare and other social service programs in the debt ceiling plan -- could cause problems after Nov. 3, when the government technically runs out of cash." (10/25/15)

"Cutting up its credit card is the only way to make Congress reduce spending. Anyone who doubts this should listen to the bipartisan whining over how sequestration has so drastically reduced spending that there is literally nothing left to cut. But, according to the Heritage Foundation, sequestration has only reduced spending from $3.6 trillion to $3.5 trillion. Only in DC would a less than one percent spending reduction be considered a draconian cut. Defense hawks have found a way around sequestration by shoving billions of dollars into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account. OCO spending is classified as 'emergency' spending so it does not count against the spending limits, even when OCO is used for items that do not fit any reasonable definition of emergency." (10/19/15)

"Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on Monday tried to increase pressure on lawmakers to raise the nation's debt limit before a Nov. 3 deadline, warning that he feared an accidental federal government default if they wait too long. 'I worry every time we hit this that sometime there would be an accident, and that would be terrible,' he told CNBC. Lew wrote to congressional leaders last week that the Treasury Department would run out of borrowing authority on Nov. 3 -- two days earlier than a previous estimate -- unless the $18.1-trillion debt limit is raised." (10/19/15)

"Whoever emerges from the current chaos to become the next House speaker, one of the first issues he or she will have to deal with is funding the federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year. It won't be easy, but the choices made will tell us a great deal about the new speaker's priorities and whether the revolt against the GOP leadership has actually changed anything in Washington." (10/14/15)

"[T]here is a simple and straightforward way to bring the fiscal hemorrhaging to an end. Don't raise the debt limit. In one legislative act, in this case, a non-action, the Federal government will have to operate within the confines of a balanced budget. With no increase in the debt limit, the Federal government will be legally restrained to spend only what it takes in, in taxes and other revenue sources. This, in itself, makes the case for not increasing the debt limit very appealing." (10/12/15)

"In every presidential election cycle, candidates find themselves called upon to present plans for balancing the federal budget. And, for the most part, their plans call for doing so -- in the sweet bye and bye. Never next year, seldom even next decade. The plan is for the current crop of politicians to kick the can down the road some more, leaving it to future Congresses and administrations to exercise the fiscal restraint that these politicians won't. Not Carly Fiorina." (10/09/15)

"It started with Mark Halperin, looking disappointed that Fiorina hadn't flown to 30 Rock in a helicopter and offered him a ride, asking her if she would pledge to submit a balanced budget in her first term. Now, this is a deeply silly question for lots of reasons, but it's pretty easy for a Republican presidential candidate to answer. Just say you have a plan to lower the deficit by cutting spending while also cutting taxes to unleash the engine of American capitalism, which will result in so many dollar bills raining down on the Treasury, it will look like a Waka Floka Flame concert. The budget deficit will magically start dropping, and someday, maybe by the end of a second term, voila! A balanced budget. Instead, Fiorina said this: 'Yes, and I think one of the keys to submitting a balanced budget ... is starting by knowing where the money is being spent ... Where I would start is to submit a plan for zero based budgeting ..." [editor's note: The author's argument is that the federal government is just too big to expect the poor beset bureaucrats to justify all their expenditures every year, and that therefore we MUST assume that they'll always spend more next year than they did this year, and anything else is insane. In fact, this is damn near the only thing Fiorina has said so far that makes any sense at all - TLK] (10/08/15)

"Sheila Weinberg wants to raise your taxes. So fervent is her money-lust that she even threatens to run for president, and only half-jokingly, on that single issue. More surprising: I would enthusiastically vote for her. What gives? Well, Weinberg isn't demanding a tax increase or a spending cut, per se -- just one and/or the other until accounts are balanced." (10/08/15)

"Congress on Wednesday sent President Barack Obama a sweeping $612 billion defense [sic] policy bill that he has threatened to veto over an ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans about government spending. The Senate voted to approve the measure 70 to 27. If Obama vetoes the defense bill, it would be only the fifth time that has happened in the past half-century. The bipartisan measure has become law every year for more than 50 years. The House passed the bill last week, 269 to 151, with enough Democratic votes to sustain a presidential veto. Obama says he'll veto it because while it contains all the money he requested, he doesn't like the way Congress did it. The bill increases defense spending by padding a separate war-fighting account with an extra $38 billion. Congress didn't increase money for domestic agencies too as the president wants." (10/08/15)

"Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged Congress to act soon to raise the debt limit .... some conservative Republicans have said they cannot support a debt limit increase unless certain issues are addressed, such as a plan to sharply reduce government spending. Lew told NPR: 'We've made it clear that we are not going to let the debt ceiling be used as a way to extract commitments that otherwise would be unacceptable.'" (10/08/15)